You’re going to want to put on your high school bio thinking caps for this one: A new biotech, called Synthorx Inc., just launched in San Diego, and its proposition is pretty groundbreaking in terms of the basic structure of, well, life.

San Diego’s Synthetic Genomics Inc. is teaming up with Lung Biotechnology, a subsidiary of pharma giant United Therapeutics of Silver Spring, Maryland, to develop “humanized” lungs and other organs in pigs that can be harvested for human transplantation.

Marijuana: Permiting May Take Months, Include Hearings

The wheels are in motion for the first legal marijuana dispensaries to open in San Diego, amid a recent crackdown on illegally operated dispensaries in the region. Nearly 70 applicants lined up in front of San Diego City Hall April 24, in hopes of receiving one of 36 conditional use permits needed to run a “medical marijuana consumer collective.”

NuVasive Inc. said Quentin Blackford will be assuming the role of chief financial officer later this year when Michael Lambert, the current CFO of the San Diego spine implant maker, retires.
Blackford is the company’s current executive vice president of finance, accounting and investor relations.

BIOTECH: Organovo Says Critical Co. Recently Formed, Issued 2 Reports

San Diego 3-D bioprinting company Organovo Holdings Inc. has filed a libel complaint with the Delaware Court of Chancery against little-known Simeon Research LLC in response to its publishing two inflammatory reports about Organovo that the company believes contains “unsubstantiated and intentionally misleading claims.”

Biotech: Co. Plans to Use New Funds to Further Trials Of Liver Failure Treatment

Despite its reportedly promising treatment for liver failure, San Diego-based Vital Therapies Inc. has had a bit of a rough go as it hit the markets. The company raised more than $30 million less than it initially hoped for in its recent initial public offering, pricing its stock below the expected range to raise gross proceeds of $54 million by offering 4.5 million shares at $12 apiece.

The saga continues for San Diego’s embattled Zogenix Inc., as it continues to voice objection to the new restrictions placed by the state of Massachusetts on the sale of its narcotic painkiller, Zohydro.

BIOTECH: Goal Is to Quickly Get Research To Development Phase

The Scripps Research Institute has formed a new drug discovery company called Scripps Advance to fast-track the translation of early-stage biomedical research into clinical development and, ultimately, commercialization.

Biotech: Ups and Downs A Common Reality Among Industry’s Local Public Cos.

Public companies in San Diego’s biotech industry have been on quite the roller coaster, a trend reflected in how that sector is represented in the San
Diego Business Journal’s new list of the 50 largest local public companies, ranked by revenue in fiscal 2013.

HEALTH: Signups Surge at End; 88% Eligible for Subsidies

The final surge of Covered California signups ended April 15 with more than 1.4 million enrolled, vastly exceeding initial estimates, despite some confusion in the signup process. However, the number of small businesses enrolled in the exchange’s Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, was much lower — about 1,150 signed up, representing about 4,900 employees and their dependents.

Zogenix Inc., the San Diego drugmaker embroiled in controversy over its new opioid painkiller Zohydro ER, finally has a win under its belt — it has successfully blocked an order from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to ban the drug in that state.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, shortened to BIO, has launched its one-on-one partnering system that will help companies initiate private meetings and gain business contacts at its annual convention, which will be held this June in San Diego.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, shortened to BIO, has launched its one-on-one partnering system that will help companies initiate private meetings and gain business contacts at its annual convention, which will be held this June in San Diego.

Biotech: Janssen Labs Is Selective, Not Controlling Of Its Life Science Startups

A Torrey Pines-based life sciences incubator that began two years ago as an “experiment” by pharmaceutical and consumer product giant Johnson & Johnson has today shown more momentum than anyone back then would have imagined.

Biotech: Lack of Market For Biofuels Spurs Flexibility

Biofuels don’t hold the same cachet or glamour they once had, but companies like San Diego’s Genomatica Inc. are showing that the market opportunity is still there for biorenewable products. In particular, specialty chemicals and nutritional supplements are proving to be economically viable industries in the sustainability space.

Biotech and tech stocks have been in a slump for the past three weeks, evidenced in part by the 3.1 percent drop in the Nasdaq Composite — the worst one day percentage decline, according to MarketWatch, since November 2011.